Hi everyone,
join us for translating and editing the Inkscape Beginners' manual, which is based upon Elisa de Castro Guerra's French book "Initiation à Inkscape" (Original French version available at https://www.flossmanualsfr.net/initiation-inkscape/ - don't translate this one ;-) ) ! Thank you, Elisa, for sharing your work and helping with licencing (also for joining the admins)!
The plan is to translate the book from French to English (Sylvain and Hinerangi already did some of the work), and make adjustments as we see fit, then to make it available for people who only start using Inkscape - if possible, accessible directly from inside the Inkscape program.
Here are some notes to get you started (we may tweak processes later, if we find better ones):
Platform usage ==============
This book is written at flossmanuals.net, which is a website that allows for collaborative editing of books about Free/Libre and Open Source Software. To learn more about the community that's behind it, please visit http://www.flossmanuals.org/about-floss-manuals-foundation.
The manual for this 'manual writing platform' (which is an instance of the Booktype software), is available at http://sourcefabric.booktype.pro/booktype-16-for-authors-and-publishers/ .
Joining =======
Join the group at http://write.flossmanuals.net/groups/beginners-manual-for-inkscape/ :-) Also say hi on the docs mailing list (see below, section "Communication", so we know who is who, and what you can help with.
Editing =======
IMPORTANT: When you're editing the book, ALWAYS leave a screen either by clicking on the 'Cancel' or on the 'Save' button. This is because, if you leave it by just closing the tab in your browser, the chapter will stay locked and inaccessible for other editors.
Version =======
This book will refer to the Inkscape 0.92.x series (important for your screenshots!).
Writing Style =============
This book is meant as an introduction for people who are not yet familiar with Inkscape terminology.
When deciding how to phrase something, think of yourself when you started to use a vector editor, or think of a teen who you would like to introduce to the program, and who you would like to enjoy the process, and to be able to make nice drawings after reading the book.
Stay on topic, make it easy to understand, and keep the learning curve shallow. Write less rather than more. Be nice and encouraging to the reader. There exists another manual that provides the deep, technical details. We need to keep in mind that it will also be read by people whose native language is not English.
Communication ===============
Anyone who edits the book can exchange messages, files and snippets via chat with other users who are online at the same time. For discussions of wider interest, or when you hit an obstacle, please subscribe and send a message to the inkscape-docs mailing list at https://sourceforge.net/p/inkscape/mailman/inkscape-docs/ .
Currently, we have 4 book admins (Elisa, Brynn, CR and me). Admins can change the book settings, add other admins and create release versions.
Chapter status ==============
Chapters move from one status to the next, when they're being worked on:
1. needs translation: Chapter isn't (fully) translated yet. If you speak both French and English, this is where your help is needed! This step only requires you to work on the text. You can ignore any images.
2. to be proofed: Chapter is translated, and needs to be checked by someone other than the translator, to spot errors and do some polishing. If English is your native language and you're good with words, grab this job!
3. needs images: The chapter contains images, but those are still French. Either it's just their file names that need to be changed (Workflow: download image, rename it on your computer, reupload, change link in the Chapter(s), provide meaningful alt text, delete French image) or a new screenshot is needed from the English interface. If you know how to do these things, please jump right in! (Hint: all image links follow this scheme: static/image_file.ext)
4. completed: This chapter is more or less finished. Concentrate your effort on the other ones :) If you spot a mistake or typo, improvements are still possible, of course.
Important: Don't forget to update a chapter's status, after you have worked on it ;-)
When you've got a great idea that would introduce a major change in the book's structure, please confer with other editors on the mailing list to see what they think about this.
Cover =====
If you're good at creating meaningful art, then we need you for creating a cool cover image that shows what you can do with Inkscape and is inviting for beginners. Read more about the Cover Manager in Booktype at http://sourcefabric.booktype.pro/booktype-16-for-authors-and-publishers/_dra.... Let us know about your plans on the mailing list (see section about Communication).
Styling and Customization ======================
If you know your CSS, you can help by improving the book's styling. You can read all about customization for different output formats and the front page in the design section of the Booktype manual at http://sourcefabric.booktype.pro/booktype-16-for-authors-and-publishers/form....
For the book to appear on the flossmanuals.net frontpage, the steps outlined here are required: http://write.flossmanuals.net/floss-manuals-workflow/_draft/_v/1.0/how-do-i-... , section "Publish new details..."
License =======
This book is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license (CC-By 4.0, see https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). By contributing to this book, you agree to publish your content under this license.
As a contributor, please add your name to the list in the 'About this Book' chapter. This chapter will *always* be in need of new content ;-)
Go! === Have fun working on the book at http://write.flossmanuals.net/start-with-inkscape/_edit/#
You will find a copy of these notes in the 'Notes' tab, and you will find me working on translating French -> English there, in the late evenings (CEST).
See you there, Kind Regards, Maren